


Fifteen Years, Four Months

by cl195238



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: First Time, Fluff, Garashir - Freeform, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon Cardassia, Reunions, Thirsty Garak is Thirsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 22:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17589617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cl195238/pseuds/cl195238
Summary: 15 years after Elim Garak leaves Deep Space Nine, Julian Bashir comes to Cardassia as part of a medical relief team. Old friends reunite, share a bottle of Kanar, and a little more.Garak POV.Thanks for reading!





	Fifteen Years, Four Months

He had aged impossibly well, and was somehow better looking than even the romanticized version of young Julian in his memories. Garak was at once startled by this reveal, and averted his gaze shortly after his eyes had encountered his old friend- descending a flight of stairs, luggage in tow.

“Hello Garak,” Bashir said warmly, in a voice as refined and honey-sweet as ever, only deeper, much deeper than he remembered. The sound of it sent a chill through his body, and Garak half reminded himself to keep control, while the other half of him was too taken aback by the sight of the elegant man before him. Garak smiled with as much reservation as he could manage, which was not much.

“My dear Doctor,” he said diplomatically, oozing a rather practiced Cardassian charm. “My, but it has been a long time.”

“Fifteen years, four months” Bashir said in his confident way, eyebrows raised. The facial hair was a new addition- a neat, silvery beard that offset his hazel eyes ravishingly. His hair was still dark, with only traces of the silver that more thoroughly flecked his beard. The lines on his fine face traced an intense, sensuous smirk so startlingly handsome that Garak worried for his ability to accommodate a guest whose presence so incapacitated him that he would barely be able to look at, let alone entertain graciously. All along he had believed it was the Doctor’s youth that had so physically attracted him, now he could see it was his beauty.

Garak coped with the situation, as always, by chattering.

“It is unfortunate that your visit would be under such tragic circumstances, but it is nonetheless a delight to see an old friend, and an honor for such a well-respected physician to volunteer his services to our cause,” he said, with an only slightly patronizing nod of the head. Yet another war had ravaged Cardassia Prime, and although the fighting had ended, the Cardassian people were stricken with disease that resulted from the squalor war had left them in. Garak had managed well enough, he always did, but many Cardassians were dying each day and medical teams had been summoned from all over the quadrant. He had always hoped Bashir would visit someday, but had never imagined it like this. They were in the midst of tragedy, and instead of the years levelling the playing field, they had only made his lovely friend more beautiful, more out of his reach.

It was a brief walk to Garak’s home, and he used this time to debrief the doctor on the state of Cardassia’s public health crisis, using the grim situation as a distraction from the warm nausea he felt every time he glanced over at the tall, lithe man beside him. The Cardassian spoke fervently enough about the struggles of his people that Bashir didn’t get many words in edgewise. “Needless to say, we’ll require your expertise” Garak barked, as they reached his quarters, “I trust you’ll ignore the sorry, decrepit state of my home and my person” he said, instantly regretting letting his insecurities slip into the conversation. Julian Bashir looked him sternly in the eyes.

“On the contrary” he said, drawing his eyebrows together, “I’ve missed you,” and Bashir drew in a breath in a way that suggested he hadn’t planned on being quite so forthcoming with that particular sentiment. “And despite the circumstances, I’m…glad this happened.” The doctor scowled at his own inarticulacy and, seeking approval, drew his face towards Garak, who found himself unable to respond, frozen in place by the beautiful man’s gaze.

“What a thing to say!” Garak said at last, flippantly, glad to have somehow found an upper hand, “A world in turmoil, and you’re glad!” But Julian instantly knew Garak was only teasing, and grinned in response. How sophisticated that grin was now, how knowing. Then Julian touched him.

It was innocent enough, a gentle grip and squeeze on the forearm, but it made Garak’s blue eyes blaze with intensity and his body burn hot. It was a strange gesture to him, and unnecessary. Even after all these years he still hadn’t fully grasped the subtleties of human body language, and wondered at the superfluity of this touch. Should not the Doctor be repulsed by his aging, reptilian exterior?

“Are you going to offer me anything to drink?” Bashir said, in a tone Garak could have easily mistaken for provocative had he been in a more hopeful mood. The Cardassian gestured grandly toward a chair before leaving the room to find a good, unreplicatied bottle of Kanar he had been saving, happy to leave the situation momentarily in order to catch his breath. He returned and offered Julian a glass, in control once again, taking a seat on a sofa adjacent to his old friend.

They spent the evening catching up on the events, both political and personal, that had transpired over the years. Much had changed, but their chemistry as partners in conversation sparked as brightly as ever. Garak was now used to the shock of Julian’s attractiveness, and wanted to hold his gaze longer than he should, rather than avert it. Bashir seemed to glow from within, his golden brown skin still radiant. He longed to possess that glow, to grip it with his own leathered grey hands and consume it. Garak now stared openly. Julian too, seemed to be hungry for eye contact, watching him intently, engagingly. Garak felt exposed to the doctor’s searching eyes in a way that gave him the sensation of being more vulnerable than he could ever remember. Somehow this excited him, feeling exposed, there in front of the object of his desire for so many years, and his hands clenched into fists at the thrill of it.

At this point, inexplicably, Julian moved from his position in the chair to join Garak on the small sofa. This both alarmed and delighted the older man, who through Kanar and conversation had gained some courage and composure.

“So close, Doctor.” He heard himself purr. Their conversation had devolved in such a way that neither of them were sure what they were talking about anymore, as somehow without noticing they had begun conversing not in words, but in smoldering expressions. The Cardsssian watched passively as Julian’s hazel eyes- were they greener now?- Pierced his, and grew large as Julian, always graceful, leaned forward, tilted his chin downward and his eyes up, peering through dark, heavy lashes. Julian hesitated for the smallest fraction of a second, then rushed at him, flooding Garak’s eager mouth with his hot tongue. Overwhelmed with passion, Garak could scarcely believe what was happening and willingly succumbed to the desires of the Doctor, for once pushing aside his natural suspicion and relishing every moment.

 

THE END


End file.
